Gary did a sheepish laugh. "Well, I suppose you're right, Felicity. But sometimes you can't really be sure if I'm a werewolf or not. And yet, there's always one way of knowing someone's a werewolf... One that's obvious and everyone know what that is... A full moon. I mean, in films and telly shows that does have werewolves in them, they transforms when there's a full moon, right?" He shrugs before he turns to Jay Slezak.

"Yeah, point. That's one of the commonly known things about modern werewolves. But getting proof that way depends on which idea is being used. I mean, I wouldn't wanna be out to see whether you'd turn into a wolf or not during the full moon if you have the uncontrollable type, though I think that's not the case here?"

Slezak wrote:

Jay smiled to try to reassure her, but the smile faltered when she said he had nothing to worry about. "Felicity, thinking about it some more, I was going to say 'as your boyfriend...' but that doesn't make a difference. I'd still care about you just as much whether or not we were together. I should trust you. I do trust you. But that's why I'm getting so worked up over it happening just once." He wanted to say more, but that's when he noticed Austin and decided to talk to him for a moment.

"Oh... I-I know. But it's not really a concern-worthy thing; it happens some times." Unsure of what else she could say, she fell silent, biting her lip.

Felicity unconsciously froze as Jay saw her choice, feeling slightly nervous. Once he spoke though, she relaxed and smiled. "You really think so? I don't do this usually because it's tough to manage, but here I thought, 'I'm designing a character' and this seemed to go best with my mental image of a sylph. And I thought the wings in the avatar were just for aesthetics! I can actually use them to fly? It doesn't feel like I can really control them, though... I guess I'll have to concentrate or practice or something before I can?" She blinked in confusion as he mentioned sticking to his 'roots'. "I know we're actually humans and all, but this is kinda the time to try new stuff, right? Or am I missing something...?" Felicity trailed off, noticing the look in his eyes. "Jay, what's the matter?" And then he explained. "You went for therapy because of that? If I'd known..." She said with a sigh. "Anyway, I'm just as glad to be here!" She returned the embrace, tensing a bit as his hand brushed against her wings. She wasn't really sure how to get over that too, especially since it was rather weird to be able to feel that, even when muted by the small scales on them. Devoid of her intent, her wings reacted by closing over her back.

Mikael felt satisfied with Remeku's words, even though he felt like it would still be a long while before she would even be close to overcoming her problems. Still, he squeezed her hand tightly and said, "I...I will c-continue to fight for you whether y-you like it or n-not, so p-please don't give up on me, or y-yourself, okay? B-Because if you give up, w-whose sidekick am I gonna be?" Mikael gave Remeku a sweet smile as a light gust of wind blew his turqoise hair and his form glistened in the sunlight once more.

---

"Well, I saw Flo and Lida fly using their wings, so giving you purely-aesthetic wings seems unfair," Jay reasoned.

"Yeah, I know I should try something new, but when I said 'stick to my roots,' it has to do with when I first met Austin," Jay explained, pulling out his handbook once again. He opened up the advanced customization menu and found an option for 'special item.' "Ah, here it is!" he commented as he tapped the option and then apply. Suddenly, a silver bracelet appeared on his left wrist. The blue gems dotting the bracelet glowed softly, even in the sunlight. In his right hand, he now held a short wooden staff.

"They're just for show right now, since combat doesn't seem to be in the game yet, but these are the magic items my brother and I used many years ago--ahaha, that must sound like an old folktale. Anyway, it was a virtual reality MMORPG--kinda like this is going to be someday--that we had decided to investigate because people were going missing, and it turns out an error in the game prevented you from logging out. We never could figure out the root cause...but we made it out...somehow." After Jay finished his explanation, he examined his bracelet. He looked pleased, but nostalgic.

"Oh, Felicity, your wings... Is it true that some insects' wings are so delicate that just touching them can damage them, preventing them from being able to fly? I guess that's why I was a little scared to touch yours...but I'm really curious, and your wings look pretty sturdy, so...um, if you don't mind..." Jay reached his hand out and very lightly touched one of Felicity's closed wings. Using as little pressure as he could, he ran his hand downward, taking in the texture of the scales. He marveled at the roughness, the detail that was put into the texture. How in the world did Austin do this? "I-It feels so real...well, as real as I'd imagine it to be," Jay uttered in wonderment.

As he moved his hand away and lowered his arm back to his side, Jay remarked with a bit of embarrassment, "I hope that wasn't...too weird..."

She hummed softly to herself as she scanned through the available choices. "Hmm... maybe I should just stick to being a human..." she mumbled, then immediately shook her head. "No, I should try to be a little more adventurous than that..." She quickly made her selections, and with a small flash, Sayako changed... a little. Her hair and eyes were now lilac-colored, she had large butterfly-like rainbow colored wings sprouting from her back, and pointed ears common to all fae, but she was still quite recognizable. Her outfit changed to a simple ankle-length sleeveless pink dress and brown gladiator sandals. She looked herself over, a small and unsure smile on her face.

Sakura gasped. "Oooh, lilac, of course! It's perfect!" She said, clapping her hands together and nodding in approval. "Cute wings, too. Do they work?" She then asked, mirroring Felicity's query. "Now there's another use for a virtual world like this, just imagine actually flying around using your own wings, gazing down at the world all around you... well, now I almost regret my choice! But there's always next time; something to look forward to later, I suppose."

"Ah, t-thank you, Sakura~ ...Do they work?" Sayako echoed. "I-I don't know. Maybe? I'm not sure how I would go about using them, though..." Just as she said that, as if responding to her thoughts, her wings slowly began to flutter, then flapped more rapidly. Somewhat startled, she turned her head towards her new 'limbs', then gasped as she felt her feet leave the ground. Her eyes snapped back to her legs, perhaps a little too quickly, as she swayed in the air a little from the sudden movement. After taking a moment to regain her balance, she kicked her feet a little, then laughed happily. "Oh, wow... Wow!" she sighed. She tried floating a little higher; a yard from the ground seemed enough for now. Still giggling to herself, she landed in front of Sakura, then slid her arms around the dryad and attempted to hoist her into the air. That was apparently too much, though, as despite the best efforts of Sayako's wings, the two remained grounded. The fairy released her hold and rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry. I guess I can't carry you. I-it's probably for the best until I get a little better at flying anyway. ...Now there's something I never imagined myself saying," she snickered.

Mikael felt satisfied with Remeku's words, even though he felt like it would still be a long while before she would even be close to overcoming her problems. Still, he squeezed her hand tightly and said, "I...I will c-continue to fight for you whether y-you like it or n-not, so p-please don't give up on me, or y-yourself, okay? B-Because if you give up, w-whose sidekick am I gonna be?" Mikael gave Remeku a sweet smile as a light gust of wind blew his turqoise hair and his form glistened in the sunlight once more.

Remeku's eyes were wide at Mikael's statement. She smiled faintly as her heart dropped at his words. "M-Mikey... I-I won't give up on y-you! I promise! A scientist n-never takes back their w-word! Especially to their v-very own sidekick! One who states their words is only a l-liar if those words n-never come true... If I ever do b-betray you... E-even if it was an a-accident... Please... P-please... Be mad at me... Because if I don't know that I hurt y-you... Then I will never know how to fix the wound in y-your heart... I h-have hurt many people-s feelings before... And they never told me that I did... So that hurt them more... Sometimes life is v-very cruel... Even to those who are already cruel..." Remeku explained taking her other hand and placing it on top of Mikael's hand making a sandwich with their hands. She looked at Mikael seriously and then smiled.

"Hehe...Remmy! H-How could I ever be mad at you?" Mikael's mood seems to be improving as his involuntary giggling has returned. "J-Just keep your head up...ehehe...okay? Y-You won't lose me. I promise."

As he finished, he began skipping around the area. He had to release some of his energy or he might go crazy. He sprinkled water on any flowers he passed by. Catching a glimpse of some pink and red flowers adorning the head of what looked like a tree-being trying to be lifted by a large fairy-like creature, he ran over with a mischievous giggle and, reaching up, sprinkled some water on those flowers too. He dashed away and tumbled along the ground, thoroughly enjoying himself.

Mikael suddenly had a bout of inspiration and trotted over to Austin. He began describing the stuffed animal Remeku made for him, wishing it to be a magical familiar to follow Mikael around.

Finally making his way back to Remeku, Mikael ran at her full-force and, as he slammed into her, he pulled her into a tight hug, unable to stop laughing.

Remeku watched happily as Mikael ran all over the place, enjoying his little giggly self. She laughed as he gave water to all the little plants around the area. She was just about to join him when she suddenly felt a tight embrace from Mikael. "Whoa-aaa!" Remeku suddenly lost her balance and fell back, Mikael falling on top her in the process. She blushed as she looked up at him. He was still smiling, he seemed like he could not control his laughter. Remeku couldn't help the need to laugh with him as she reached up ruffled his blue hair and giggled.

Felicity looked around when Jay brought up Lida. "Ms. O'Connor? Um, did she go somewhere? I don't think I saw her when I first came here, either..."

"When you first met Austin? As in, when you were older or something, right?" She asked at his explanation. With the appearance of his bracelet and staff, she couldn't resist reaching out and touching one of the gems on the former, before pulling back. "Are those glowing? And is that an actual magical staff? I guess mage fits you, though I can't really imagine you in robes."

"It sound a bit like one, for sure!" Felicity said when he mentioned his story sounding like a folktale. "The tales of the dimension-hopping... Wait, your brother was with you? Does that mean both of you remember the same things in regards to, um, 'stories' and all?" She asked. "And I guess everybody in that RPG got rescued then, even if you don't know what exactly happened?"

Slezak wrote:

"Oh, Felicity, your wings... Is it true that some insects' wings are so delicate that just touching them can damage them, preventing them from being able to fly? I guess that's why I was a little scared to touch yours...but I'm really curious, and your wings look pretty sturdy, so...um, if you don't mind..." Jay reached his hand out and very lightly touched one of Felicity's closed wings. Using as little pressure as he could, he ran his hand downward, taking in the texture of the scales. He marveled at the roughness, the detail that was put into the texture. How in the world did Austin do this? "I-It feels so real...well, as real as I'd imagine it to be," Jay uttered in wonderment.

"Ah, I don't really know about that, but I do know butterflies don't get theirs destroyed that easily from personal experience. Uh, let's see, Alice ma'am had told me something about that... yeah! Basically, the scales on a butterfly's wings protects them from injuries and all, so it's not that easy to harm the wings. But the scales aren't really tightly attached and lost scales can't be gotten back, so they should still be handled carefully. Which I'm pretty sure you'll do, so sure, I don't mind!" This time, despite preemptively stiffening, Felicity felt nothing. "Do you know how long Austin worked on this? He must have really taken a lot of time to get everything this realistic, huh?"

Slezak wrote:

As he moved his hand away and lowered his arm back to his side, Jay remarked with a bit of embarrassment, "I hope that wasn't...too weird..."

She shook her head with a small giggle. "Nope, perfectly fine! I almost didn't know you were doing that!" She turned her head, trying to get a better view of her wings, but realised she couldn't see them that well. Looking back at Jay, she asked, "Is there a mirror or something here? I saw myself in the avatar, but I don't think that's the same as seeing how I actually look now. Ooh, maybe that lake?" Felicity noticed the one close by. "Is that clear enough to get a good look?"

"Nothing unsightly. Just interesting," she chirped. Then Felicity mentioned not seeing her. "Oh! Felicity! I'm here! E-excuse me, Jeremy!" She flew over to Felicity, making sure she could see her, and waved. "Hiiii. I'm small." She tittered softly.

-- -- -- -- --

Sayako asked about the combat, and Austin gave her a comforting smile.

"Ah, no worries. Combat hasn't even been implemented yet. But when it is, it will be perfectly safe. If anyone should be KOed, they'd just wake up, as if from a dream. There shouldn't be any physical or mental harm."

"...A-Austin?" Austin chuckled.

"I know. It's odd to see me like this. But I am definitely me. In the code!" Then Jay pulled him aside and he nodded along as Jay talked about his Wordsmith costume. He then pulled out his blue screen and typed a few things in.

"Okay. You should be good to go and able to select that costume whenever you wish to wear it," he said. ". . . Thank you for the compliment earlier." He gave him a small smile. Then Felicity asked about the wings.

"They are fully functional. I mean, you can fly with them." He tilted his head slightly as she asked about his inspiration for Sylph. "I borrowed a lot from mythology. Vampire mythology wasn't the only thing I looked up." He gave her a smile. "The Fae species is definitely my most developed. But I need time to put in everything else I was thinking. You gave me lots of good ideas."

He gave Sakura a nod as well. "Yes, all wings allow people to fly. Though, yeah, you're right, Felicity. It takes some practice to get the hang of it, and your wings can get tired after a time, like any other muscle."

He let out a soft sigh as Jay talked about the MMORPG they had met in. And decided it was best that he step away before the emotions about that game overwhelmed him.

He watched Sayako and Flo fly instead. And that's when Mikael approached him about a familiar.

"A-ah, that's a great thought, but nobody has any familiars yet. There isn't any need to cast ma . . . " As he spoke, the sky began to darken in the distance, everything under the dark clouds began to wilt. "gic . . . ?"

Cat had been wandering not too far away from the group, taking in the world around her. She had heard howling in the distance, though, and this made her scared for Austin. She ran back to the group, dark clouds chasing after her.

A red, full moon rose overhead.

"Austin!" Cat shouted, closing the rest of the distance between them with a mightly leap and standing protectively in front of her son.

At the same time, Austin shouted, "Gary!" He reached out toward the werewolf, who had started to transform under the influence of the moon.

"Get away from him!" Cat shouted, pulling Austin away from Gary.

"Mom, it's okay. He should be able to control himself . . . Ah!"

The storm clouds were right before him then. All the vegetation and flowers turned brown, then black as ash, then disappeared. The lake dried out in seconds, leaving a barren wasteland before the group. Austin let out a soft, strangled noise, then cleared his throat.

"This wasn't supposed to happen. I'm logging us all out. Now!"

He pulled up his translucent screen and began inputting things . . . then he stiffened and paled.

"N-No . . . why can't I . . . ?"

"Austin! We have to go!" Cat shouted. She pulled out her E-handbook to try logging out, only to realize the screen was black. "Wh-what?!"

"I-I can't! I can't log us o-!" Austin shouted back, only to be cut off by really loud howling, sounding like it was coming from everywhere all at once. Austin bit his lip. Then he pulled up his screen again and began inputting information. Suddenly, everything was different. Power surged through every person in the group. Items, familiars, and weapons all formed for everyone. Austin himself grew, his hair lengthened, and he looked tanner as he pulled out his double axe.

"I gave us all abilities to handle ourselves! It doesn't look like we're going anywhere! Stick together!"

The howling grew louder. And then giant, hairy creatures that looked like a mix between wolves and bears lunged for the group, landing in front of people and snarling, trying to force people to separate from the group. But there was more howling further away as well. It won't be long before these creatures have reinforcements.

For a few moments Sakura was simply bewildered by what she was seeing, not entirely sure if it was just some harmless part of the simulation or some such. However what her senses told her quickly overwhelmed her rational mind, and with a shriek she clutched at the nearby Sayako. "Wha-wha-wh-" She stammered, before flinching as a stream of ash blew past her eyes, the flower she'd picked and placed behind her ear disintegrating like the rest. She didn't even think to try logging off, becoming paralysed in fear and uncertainty until the howling began.

It was then that Austin uploaded combat abilities to her, near-tangible power flowing through her and giving her just enough confidence to turn and face the approaching monsters. One hand still holding onto Sayako, she raised the staff she'd just acquired with her other in a vain attempt to ward the strange beasts off, desperately trying to understand her new abilities and how to use them to survive here.

"Wh-What's going on?!" Gary yelped as he watched the area wilt away underneath the dark clouds. Everything happened so suddenly that it confused Gary.

And then he heard Austin call his name. This got his attention as he turns towards Austin who tried to reach out to him but was held back by Cat. Then Austin said that he'll be able to control himself. "What do you mean by-" Gary started to ask, but he never got to finish his question as he somehow found himself looking up at the sky. He made eye contact with the full red moon. Could this mean...?

All of a sudden, Gary's body started to behave in a way that is assoicated with transforming into a werewolf. One moment, Gary was the tall and hairy fellow everyone have known via this world and the next moment, he's a wolf. A werewolf, to be exact. As he transformed into a werewolf, the clothes that he have been wearing were all torn to pieces, rendering the clothes completely useless now.

The wolf looks around in panicking confusion as he spotted the other people. He can sense the fear on them, but he gets a feeling that they're not scared of him. They're scared of something else; the howling in the distance. He quickly turns around, alarmed by the howling.

As the edges of the sky darkened, Jay began to tense up out of instinct. "N-No! But I literally just said-""Jay, there is no time! You and I both know what we must do."

Seeing Lida flying over towards Felicity, Jay shouted, "Ms. O'Connor! Get to cover!" His shaky hands coudl barely navigate the customization screen as he quickly donned the outfit he'd requested from Austin. A dark blue top hat, waistcoat, and dress pants--all of which had letters in various colors and styles strewn about the fabric--now clothed the Wordsmith. A white undershirt was visible, along with white shoes and gloves--the last of which Jay decided to remove and place in his belt pack. He also wore dark blue glasses despite his sight no longer needing to be corrected. The gems on his bracelet began to pulsate as he became privy to the abilities he'd be able to use. "Everyone...! It's time to make things happen."

---

Jeremy's hand was much more steady as he took his time to select the special items and a more traditional robe and hat outfit. The bracelet and staff appeared on his person. The quickly-fading sun sent a glint across Jeremy's decorative glasses as he steeled himself for what he knew was coming. Unlike Jay, Jeremy felt no need for clever-sounding one-liners. He had one thing, and only one thing, on his mind: Protecting his students and fellow staff. His stance took on a dignified form as instructions for familiar abilities began to populate Jeremy's head.

He then looked down to notice the handbook had gone completely black. He tapped it a few times to try to wake it up, to no avail. Thank goodness he'd acted quickly enough.

Observing his brother, Jay tried his handbook. It was the same--completely non-functional.

---

"W-We can't...l-log out!? B-But...A-Ah! I-I-I need to protect Remmy!!" Mikael stammered as he jumped to his feet, reaching down to assist Remeku to hers as the once serene scene turned ominous. Squeezing Remeku's hand tightly, Mikael thought of himself and of Remeku in the real world. He thought of the stuffed animal...and heard a faint poofing sound nearby.

"M-Mikey! Remmy!" A high-pitched, soft, cutesy voice spoke.

"P-P-Puffy!" Mikael called out as his present from Remeku had taken physical form and begun to circle the Voice Actor and Alchemist. Mikael felt a magical connection; a string; a tether to his now-animated stuffed friend as his knowledge of water energy manipulation began to amplify instantly, intensely, immensely. "N-No, wait, s-stop! I-I c-can't...t-too...mu-AAAAH!" Mikael clutched his head and shut his eyes as the unrelenting stream of data for his new abilities overwhelmed him. It was agonizing, migraine-equivalent pain. The information had to come through much more quickly than probably ever intended, and Mikael's mind was not equipped to handle it.

Suddenly, Mikael snapped back to reality with a start. Sweating? Crying? What use did they have to a being of water? Still, Mikael felt like he'd done both of those things as he began to regain his focus. His body surged with energy, though his mind was still sore from the mental incursion he'd just endured. Finally, Mikael realized he'd been tightly gripping the stuffed animal, its warmth and radiance offering one last wave of comfort before the battle began.

"Hi, Ms. O'Connor!" She smiled and waved to the fairy. "You look so small, just like-" She paused mid-sentence, hearing Jay's outburst, and addressed the wordsmith with concern. "Jay?"

And then everything changed. Felicity watched in stunned silence as the beautiful world turned the exact opposite. The creepy red moon in the sky, the dried-up lake, the loud howling... if she hadn't been convinced of the virtual reality by now, she would have wholeheartedly believed this was just a nightmare, with how things had suddenly became ugly. She gripped her bracelet and glanced at the others. What were they supposed to do if they couldn't leave this place?

When Austin inputted information, she gasped, feeling knowledge flood her mind. Her wings beat rapidly, lifting her roughly ten centimetre above the ground. A leather whip formed in her right hand and her dress turned into a gown the colour of the sky before, with a deep blue ribbon on it. She remembered kinda bookmarking those items before, planning on checking them out once she got used to her fae self, but it seemed that what Austin did had caused them to appear on her.

Felicity closed her eyes and tried to note everything she had just learnt from that influx of information. After a few minutes of comprehending her current spells and abilities, she opened her eyes and immediately saw the monsters.

"This is a game battle, those are just standard fantasy enemies, this is not happening in the real world..." She told herself and got ready to use her magic as soon as it was needed.

Isaiah's body shook as he watched Gary's sudden transformation. He desperately tried to log out, but to no avail. In a panic, he began running from the group, only to shuffle to a halt several feet in front of two more werewolves. He turned around to run back, but tripped on a rock and fell.

A bow and quiver filled with arrows appeared at his side. Isaiah tentatively lifted them, slinging the quiver over his shoulder and loading an arrow. He pointed his now-loaded bow at the wolves, hoping he could scare them off.

Sayako squeaked in surprise as the world around her darkened, and again when Sakura clung to her. She froze for a moment before biting her lip and placing a trembling hand on the other girl's shoulder.

Suddenly an ancient-looking, leather-bound book materialized in her free hand. She gasped and blinked at the tome, then opened it. Maybe there was something inside that could help...

"M-Mikey! Are y-you okay...!?" Remeku tried to help Mikael when she looked over and saw her own creation flying in the air. She jumped back in sudden panic. Is that thing really flying...? Remeku thought as she stared at it, a little afraid to talk to it. She looked at Mikael then at the now alive stuffed animal. She scratched the back of her elf ear before looking over and smiling at the flouting spirit. "A-ah... Yume~Kokoro... y-your.... a-alive... heh..." She looked down suddenly. Her heart all of a sudden dropped. This time... it wasn't a metaphor. She felt a weird source of power stream into her making her head quake in pain. It felt like she was being stabbed multiple times in the head. Her body quivered under her, trying to keep her from falling to her knees, but it didn't help, she collapsed to the ground on her knees trying to make the pain go away.

-----

Kirimi seemed a little angered by Mikael being so close to Remeku all of a sudden, so he kept a good eye on him for a while before feeling a little pain strike through him. His first reaction was to grab his notebooks and hug them tight to him feeling the need to protect them. "Hurt me! Do whatever you want! But don't hurt my notebooks please! Their fragile! They love to be alive! Don't take their creative minds away!" Kirimi acted incredibly dramatic as he started to fake lash at whatever was in front of him. He then opened his eyes and realized that there was nothing attacking him. "Ahem... that never happened..." Kirimi said as he tried to calm himself down.

-----

Lumica was sitting on a tree branch when she looked down and saw everyone acting a bit strange. Is this because of the battling going on soon...? Lumica thought as she flew down to ground. She stepped a few steps before all of a sudden feeling the same feeling that everyone else was feeling. Her wings pulsed being consumed of power. She petted them softly trying to make the pain go away but it got stronger and stronger until she just couldn't seem to do it softly and started to scratch her wings to make it go away. She stopped, realizing that it was only making it worse. She sat down on the grass and tried to gain concentration of positive thoughts. It was hard, but after a while, she seemed to have forgotten all about the pain.

Remeku is angered by the sudden intrusion. She needed to protect Mikael at all costs. She decided to use Speed Strike on one of the werewolves. She ran quickly at it, determined to get it to the ground. She took her sword out as dark power surrounded it like a Shield. She lashed at the werewolf with her sword and stepped back quickly as it started to growl and snap at her. What is she going to do now?

Lida screamed. Everything was so loud. It hurt her tiny, pointed ears. She covered her ears with her hands and called out for Jeremy. However, it looked like he didn’t hear her. She flew closer intending to call again, but the noises overwhelmed her. As the pain overtook her, she fell toward the ground, still clutching her ears.

---

As the red moon glowed and the sounds of howling were all around her, Cat’s first thought was, I must protect Austin! With the new power coursing through her, she held up her hand--claws replacing her delicate nails--and cast a protective barrier of fire around her son.

So focused on Austin was she, she didn’t notice the lunging wolf and was taken to the ground by it. The wolf opened its mouth, revealing its giant fangs, and leaned down to bite her.

Avatar drawn by MC_Kitten, edited by Slezak

Last edited by Lida_Rose on Fri Feb 09, 2018 5:03 am, edited 1 time in total.

"Ah! Okay, I, uh..." Jay debated with himself over which of his abilities to use first. Best to get things underway with an all-out attack, perhaps? Jumping right into action, he recited, "Alright, prepare to be torn asunder by the might of my Wand of Thunder!" He punctuated the line by holding his staff like a guitar and making a strumming motion. The sound of an electric guitar could be heard. He continued playing a riff, and on the final note, an arc of electricity shot forth, striking one of the nearby werewolves.

"Haaah...haaaah...I'm back, baby!" Jay commented breathlessly, shocked (no pun intended) at how good that felt. A rush of adrenaline coursed through him, combined with a tinge of nostalgia. Because of this, he almost didn't notice the werewolf he'd attacked lunge for him in retaliation. Jay let out a startled "Uwah!" as he attempted to sidestep. He glanced worriedly around at the others. He, his brother, and Austin knew what to do, but everyone else was thrown right in without time to even practice.

As the horrid beasts closed in, Sayako hastily flipped through her spellbook until she found a page with something that seemed like it may be useful written on it. She swallowed hard, then took a step away from Sakura, giving her room to gesture towards the dryad with her free hand, muttering the incantation, hoping the spell would not only be useful, but that she was casting it correctly. A gasp escaped her lips as a bubble of light flashed around Sakura.

Apparently one of the monsters was less than pleased with Sayako's interference, as it went for her. She yelped in fear and attempted to leap backwards, away from the creature, forgetting in her panic that she could probably just, you know, fly.

Felicity found it pretty easy to choose which spell to use, but there was the problem of who exactly would be the best to use it on. As the monsters advanced towards them, she decided it really didn't matter and aimed at the one closest to her. No dramatic dialogues; just a simple declaration of "Dark Strike" that was accompanied by a crack of her whip. In contrast to the darkness enveloping her target, the metal sun on her bracelet started to glow.

"Oh, wow... that was pretty easy. Maybe I could-" And then she saw that same wolf growl and leap at her, a few traces of the spell still around it. With a startled shriek, Felicity tried to move out of the way as fast as she could, her wings carrying her higher into the sky.

Jeremy was next to react. With a calm, but intense expression he mumbled some words under his breath and plunged his staff into the ground with a soft thump. The gems on Jeremy's bracelet pulsed in a brilliant, bluish-white flash. Originating from the staff's point of contact, a thin, jagged trail of ice streaked across the dusty topsoil which once flourished but now lay barren. As the line reached its target--one of the nearby werewolves--the arcane energy began to pool beneath the creature before crashing up as a mess of icicles, piercing and rending the underside of the feral beast. The creature whined in pain and collapsed, but didn't seem to be down for the count just yet.

Pleased with the success of his attack, the Director then called out, "Consolidate your attacks! If we thin out the numbers this will become much easier!" Though in the chaos and cacophony of the situation, he wasn't sure his advice could be heard. As he looked around, he caught a glimpse of a faltering Lida and called out to her, "Miss O'Connor!" Unaware that he was just contributing to the noise as he began to move towards her, cupping his hands palms-up in an attempt to give her a place to land.

---

"Remmy!" Mikael shouted as Remeku took off like a blur towards one of the nearby werewolves. After she slashed through the beast, which began to prepare for a counterattack, Mikael commented, "Oh no you don't!" as he ran towards Remeku and made a slashing gesture with his right hand. A long stream of water appeared in front of Mikael from his hand, headed straight for the werewolf about to attack. Mikael then flicked his wrist back in the opposite direction, causing the stream to crack like a whip and strike the werewolf true. The werewolf fell over. Mikael is shocked that his attack worked. "D-Did...Did I just...?" Mikael stammered, unable to finish his question. He would still need time to reassure himself that it was just an enemy in a video game and not a real wild animal. Then, the creature roused once more, not quite thoroughly defeated.

Sakura continued holding her staff in front of her, pointed at the nearby monster to try and physically hold it back. Despite this, it kept advancing, and so without really knowing what she was doing she swung it while activating her newly-granted powers. To her great surprise this caused a large root to burst out of the ground and lash out in the same way her staff swung, landing a good blow on the snarling werewolf. She let out a surprised, happy gasp, but then shrieked as it continued undeterred and leaped at her. Instinctively she closed her eyes and tensed up, but feeling no impact looked ahead and saw that it had been stopped by a glowing barrier. "M-Matchy, thank you!" She said, turning quickly to check on her only to see another of the monsters leaping at the Coupler. "No! Watch out!" Completely ignoring the imminent threat of the werewolf stopped by the barrier, she made to rush after the new threat in order to... beat it back with her staff, maybe?

Kirimi got scared as the werewolf tried to do a counter attack on Remeku. He was ready to attack it but Mikael beat him to it. Lumica was standing near the battling looking a little scared so Kirimi walked up to her cautiously. "Hay, Lumica. Are you going to fight at all? I'm going to try and ignite my sword." Kirimi said as he got his sword out and wrote on it with his pen. He continued to fail but kept trying.

-----

Lumica shivered as she saw all of these scary werewolves attacking her friends. She was relieved that this was just a virtual world. Kirimi's voice made her jump as she looked over at him. "A-ah! N-no! I could never! I'm too weak to go against those s-scary monsters! Ahhh... b-but I can try and h-heal my friends..." Lumica said as she closed her eyes and began to sing a soft melody. Of course, it was doing nothing at the moment but she concentrated really hard. She wasn't going to give up.

Arthur grimaced as his blade arced in a crescent shape, and slashed at the werewolf he had shambled up to. Although it glittered impressively, the werewolf didn't seem to mind as much as Arthur would've liked.

He then noticed the final werewolf attempt some sort of magic, and decided to take control of the situation.

"Er-- everyone! Form ranks around the people who cast the spells and stuff!" he said, more confidently than he felt. He pointed to Sayako, Sakura and Flo. "Form a... er... phalanx around them and keep the wolves' attention!"

"Lumica, give me some cover! I'm going for the smart one!"

He realized that there was no practical way for him to get past the werewolf that he was engaged with without leaving himself open to an attack of opportunity, but he thought interrupting whatever the leader was doing was more important.

Last edited by MechaQdogg on Tue Feb 13, 2018 1:33 am, edited 1 time in total.

After waiting for the wolves to run off in fear (which failed), Isaiah let loose an arrow from his bow, striking the nearest of the werewolves. It let out a whimper and began running wildly around the field.

Austin could do nothing but cringe as a werewolf lunged towards him, only to suddenly be blocked by a barrier of fire. He turned just in time to see another werewolf moving to attack Cat. "M-Mom!" Austin called out in horror as he thought to run towards her.

Knowing he would be unable to reach her in time before she would be hurt, Austin stopped, only being able to watch as Cat was taken to the ground. Austin resolved to get revenge on the werewolf which attacked his mother and decided to use his power of willful lycanthropy to make himself stronger and faster. His form began to change, but it would take some time before he would be fully transformed.

Werewolf 1 bit Cat in her shoulder, causing a giant wound, which began to bleed profusely.

Werewolf 2’s attack was thwarted. However, it is still giving Austin a menacing look. It is probably going to attack him next turn.

Jay managed to dodge Werewolf 3, but it has turned around and is ready to attack him again.

Werewolf 4 struggled greatly to get up. And succeeded.

After struggling for a bit, Werewolf 5 also got up!

Werewolf 6’s attack was thwarted. It prepared to attack Sakura again next turn.

Sayako leaping backwards would not normally have been enough to dodge Werewolf 7’s attack. But Sakura smacking it with a stick caused it to stop its attack. It looked at Sakura with fury in its eyes. It is probably going to attack her next turn.

Felicity dodged Werewolf 8’s counterattack. But it looked up at her and prepared to leap.

Werewolf 9 bit Arthur in the arm, latching onto him. It seemed intent on pulling on him. Some blood dribbled from the wound.

Werewolf 10 got up after Flo hit it.

Werewolf 11 bit Gary in the shoulder. It doesn’t look like it hurt Gary very much.

Werewolf 12, after watching the battle and calculating, began to howl melodically, looking very focused.

But, you noticed the howling that seemed far off before was getting closer. And it seemed suspicious that Werewolf 12 didn’t have more protection . . . .

Gary whimpered as the enemy werewolf bit him in the shoulder. However, it doesn't seems to hurt much. Enraged by this, Gary made a series of snarls and growls. Suddenly, a gust of wind slashed away at the werewolf. How Gary was able to cast Cutting Wind while in werewolf mode was anyone's guess. It seems to have made the enemy werewolf whimper and then it went after him to attack again.

Remeku has had enough. She runs forward toward the werewolf and uses Power Strike on it, using dark energy from her sword and slashing down on it. The werewolf got back up angered and tried to bite her arm. She dodges the attack and becomes more angry. It's a face off between them.

------

Kirimi looked over and noticed a werewolf gnawing on cat's arm. He wanted to help so he attacked the werewolf to get it off of her. The werewolf luckily let go of cat and backed away. Kirimi hurried over to cat to help her when suddenly he turned around and the werewolf tackled him making him fall back. He tried to fight to get it off but the werewolf bit his arm leaving a wound like cat's. Kirimi screamed in pain. He tried to use his other arm to get it off but had no luck. He continued to fight back, even though his left arm was unable to move.

------

Lumica jumped as a werewolf started to pull and tug roughly on Arthur's arm. She tried to think of something to do but she was too afraid to go anywhere nere the vicious creature. She started to play Earth Song so she could at least boost everyone's defense. Mainly Arthur's.

After narrowly avoiding becoming a snack for a werewolf, Jay was quite flustered. He shouted out, "Um, everyone! I can help, but it's gonna take some time! Felicity! Jeremy! Austin! Anyone! Cover me!" He started to play a sequence of notes which began slowly. He cringed a bit at the low-quality placeholder sounds that were being used, but tried to ignore it as he increased the speed of his playing. As he did so, arcs of electricity began to form around him. Jay would have to play as fast as possible for the spell to work, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep it going for long, but he had to do something.

---

Jeremy, satisfied with his work so far, looked around the area once more. Should he try to assist Cat? He wondered. Just then, he realized that he'd dropped his staff to the ground and cupped his hands, feeling a gentle weight upon them. He glanced back to his hands and noticed Lida in her tiny fairy form, who had finally collapsed from the pain. Jeremy considered the idea that he now carried an entire person in his hands. The battle seemed to fade away around him as he became lost in thought. Realizing he was staring at Lida, albeit sympathetically, he quickly opened his belt pack and gently placed Lida inside of it. The thick fabric lining would muffle the cacophonous sounds of howling and battling going on. While Jeremy had nothing that could really act as a pillow, he took a kerchief and laid it over the top of Lida like a blanket. She needed rest. That's all he could think about.

Suddenly coming back to reality and realizing that Jay was calling out for coverage, Jeremy quickly retrieved his staff and called out, "Fear not, Jay! I will protect you." He held his staff out toward his brother.

Suddenly, a barely-visible sphere of energy appeared around Jay with a SHOOM! Not half a second later, Jay heard a loud magical PWANG! as the werewolf which had come back for him bounced off of the barrier, nearly startling Jay out of his concentration. Jay was able to continue where he left off though.

Jeremy hadn't noticed that the werewolf he'd attacked before was preparing to attack him.

---

Noticing that Jeremy was about to be attacked, Mikael yelled, "Look out, Professor Sl-""When a problem comes along, just whip it, Mikey!" Puffy, Mikael's stuffed animal familiar interrupted, slamming into him with a jolt of energy, startling Mikael and causing him to repeat the motion he'd used last time, sending a stream of water which cracked as it struck the werewolf near Jeremy.

"P-Puffy, why did you...? H-How...?" Mikael asked frantically.

"I'm your can-do-it, Mikey! I'm here to help!"

"'C-Can-do-it'? What?"

"Your conduit! Your channel and focus for magical energy! But I like the sound of can-do-it better since, 'cause of me, you can do it! Your magic, that is."

Mikael didn't really know what to say in response as he wondered what to do next.

The second werewolf that had been next to Isaiah before he'd shot its companion had seemingly run off to fight another member of the group. Noticing the werewolf he'd previously shot had gotten up, Isaiah readied his bow and fired at it.

"T-thank yo-ahh!" Sayako's words of gratitude to Sakura were cut short as she saw the wounded beast attempt to attack the dryad again. She quickly recited the protection spell she'd just used once more; if it worked the first time, right? "S-shell!" she cried, waving her hand at Sakura.

She yelped as the other werewolf lunged at her and backed away as quickly as she could, hoping not to trip over her own feet while doing so. The howling of the newly spawned beasts near them caused her to shudder, but she kept her eyes on the two she and Sakura were already engaged with.

Seeing as how she'd caught the werewolf's attention, Sakura hastened to cast Arbhor again, summoning a large tree root that slammed into the monster. It seemed effective, but the werewolf quickly retaliated, and once again it was only Sayako's Shell that saved her from harm. "Ahhh, this is too much..." She wailed quietly to herself, getting a very close-up view of the snarling beast from behind the safety of the wall of light. She checked on Sayako again, saw that she was being attacked again, and swiftly ran towards the sixth werewolf, hoping she could occupy its attention. Again.

"Jay?" Felicity faintly heard his request amidst all the other noises and glanced at him. But seeing Jeremy shield him, she returned her attention to the growling wolf she had attacked. Its eyes were focused on her, and she regretted being in the air at that moment, unable to go backwards. Well, forward was still possible...

She didn't know how much range her spell had, and didn't feel like testing her luck then, so she just flew until she was behind the creature. Before it could follow her movement, Felicity aimed another Dark Strike at it. Once the fog of black vanished, her enemy turned to face her, seeming pretty irritated. And then leaped from the ground, straight at her. "Dammit!" She muttered, raising her whip and attempting to step aside in midair.

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum